Since 2013 biennial conferences of the History Expert Group are held jointly with the Humanities and Social Sciences Expert Group (HASSEG) at Cambridge (GB) and Fort Collins (USA), as well as sessions in alternate years at the SCAR OSC at Auckland (New Zealand). The History group intends to continue its collaboration with HASSEG in workshops and SCAR OSC sessions, which have seen an increase in number and quality of scholars and output.

The leader of the group was involved in the SCAR Horizon Scan process. Three SCAR History EG members edited the book Antarctica and the humanities, currently in press (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016). In light of global developments that highlight the need for a cross-cutting integrated approach, recommendation 2 of the most recent review of SCAR’s structure and activities, ad increased bipolar collaboration, we are recommending that a Humanities and Social Sciences SSG be established. This also makes structural sense, enriching SCARs research portfolio through incorporating the humanities and social sciences (including history) in the SSG framework.

Recommendations:

We recommend that the Delegates consider establishing a Humanities and Social Sciences SSG in order to:

Address global developments that highlight cross-cutting integrated approaches to research

Improve opportunities for international collaboration, including with counterparts in the Arctic

Enhance SCARs research portfolio

In the event a Humanities and Social Sciences SSG is not established this year, we request that the Delegates continue to support the History EG activities as proposed in this report to:

Ensure continued networking and collaboration opportunities for members

Ensure continued collaboration with Humanities and Social Sciences Expert Group

Actions:

The next History and the Humanities and Social Sciences Expert Groups conference will take place in Hobart, Tasmania (Australia) 5-7 July 2017.

We will, jointly with HASSEG, submit a session proposal to the tri-annual International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS), the premier conference of the International Arctic Social Sciences Association (Umeå, Sweden, 8-12 June 2017)

We are planning a session for the next SCAR/IASC OSC in Davos (Switzerland) in 2018.

Budget Implications:

An annual budget of US$ 5.000 (plus carry-over from 2016) will be primarily disbursed to subsidize travel to the EG’s annual meetings, benefitting the following groups:

Early-career researchers

Researchers from countries with limited funding opportunities

This will enable the broadest possible participation from junior scholars and scholars from developing countries with smaller Antarctic programmes.